How to Compose a Photo

Composing is an important aspect of taking a good picture. The term describes the process of deciding what items to place in a picture frame, where to place them and whether to take the picture in a horizontal or vertical format. This page gives some tips on how to compose a photo.

Composing is an important aspect of taking a good picture. The term describes the process of deciding what items to place in a picture frame, where to place them and whether to take the picture in a horizontal or vertical format. This page gives some tips on how to compose a photo.

Introduction

  • Composing a picture is an important aspect of photography and will allow the viewer to focus on the important aspects of the picture.

Step 1: Things to Consider

  • When you are composing a picture, consider:
  1. Framing: Where to place the main subject and other items in the frame.
  2. Format: Do you want to use a horizontal or vertical one?
  3. Balance: What is the balance between different items in the frame?
  4. Focus: What will be in focus in the picture?
  5. Perspective: You can play with perspective by either standing, sitting or even lying down when taking the picture.

Step 2: Some Recommendations

  • Photography is an art and there are no set rules. There are some general guidelines for good composition, but sometimes you might want to break these for effect.
  1. People are often best photographed in a vertical format, unless they are lying down.
  2. For interesting compositions, it's a good idea to avoid placing people in the middle of the frame.
  3. You can use frame-like aspects of the background, such as a doorway, to frame in a subject.
  4. Learn about the rule of thirds; which divide a picture into nine sections. According to the rule of thirds, you should place the subject in the top three sections.

Step 3: Learning

  • If you are serious about photography, for example if you want to become a professional photographer, you should learn more about composition than this page can cover. There are many guidelines for good composition and some general rules to learn. Just feel free to break these for effects or impact.

Conclusion

  • To compose good pictures, consider framing, format, balance, focus and perspective.


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Upload a picture from your computer

You can upload a JPG, GIF or PNG file. Do not upload pictures containing celebrities, nudity, artwork, or copyrighted images).

Specify an image URL

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Type the image URL in the text field above and click 'Search'. Large images may take awhile to process.

Please remember that using others' images on the web without their permission is not very nice.

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